Knockdown paperboard chair with storage space



Aug. 26, 1969 3,463,546

KNOCKDOWN PAPERBOARD CHAIR WI '1H STORAGE SPACE a. E. GIEBEL Filed Aug.28, 1967 United States Patent US. Cl. 297-440 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A paperboard chair constructed from two blanks. One blankincorporates the back section, the side panels. seat flaps cut out fromthe side panels in such a manner that the assembled chair has theresemblance to a swing chair, and bottom flaps which are interfolded orsecured together to form a base structure. A second blank forms a frontsection, a seat cover and a bottom flap. When the two blanks areproperly folded and secured to each other, a wing chair with a storagespace below the seat is formed. The space also houses a removablesupport for the seat.

This invention relates to furniture, particularly to chairs of the typeconstructed of low cost paperboard, fiberboard or similar light weight,high strength, relatively rigid material in sheet form, hereinafterreferred to as paperboard. This board is provided with a waterproofcoating which makes the furniture resistant to damage by moisture andwhich adapts the furniture to be decorated with water or oil paints.

One object of this invention is to provide a chair which can beassembled from a few prepared and preformed blanks of paperboard whichare of a size which can be easily shipped and mailed.

Another object is to provide a chair assembled from several paperboardblanks which incorporates a storage space under the seat, which spacealso serves to house the seat support assembly.

Another object is to provide blanks which are so simplified that even ayoung child can assemble them to form a chair, one of the blanks formingthe front and seat to provide a replaceable seat means when the old oneis worn out.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessingthe features, properties, and the relation of elements which will beexemplified in the article hereinafter described, and the scope of theinvention will be exemplified in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a side view of the assembled chair;

FIG. 2 shows a view of the assembled chair taken on line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows the major chair blank which, when folded, forms the backsection, the sides, the seat flaps and the bottom flaps of the chair;

FIG. 4 shows the other blank forming the front, the seat cover and abottom flap of the chair;

FIG. 5 shows the seat support means assembly; and

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the chair showing the preferred manner ofinterfolding the bottom flaps.

The paperboard chair in accordance with the invention is of sufiicientstrength to support the desired weight of the sitter, usually a youngchild or infant, yet it is light enough to be picked up by the child andmoved. The

3,463,546 Patented Aug. 26, 1969 'ice coating applied to the paperboardmaterial is preferably a synthetic thermoplastic such as a vinylchloride-vinyl acetate copolymer or an acrylic polymer. The board iscoated on the outside and thereby is waterproofed to withstand normalusage.

As shown in FIG. 1, the chair resembles a wing chair with a hand hold atthe top. It is assembled from a major blank 1 (FIG. 3) forming aframe-like structure for the chair, a smaller blank 2 (FIG. 4) andsupport blanks 3 which are partly slotted for the cruciform assembly(FIG. 5).

Major blank 1 comprises back section 5, side panels 6 and 7 connected tothe back section by score lines 8, and bottom flaps 10, 11 and 12depending from the back section and side panels respectively, at scorelines 13. As will be noted in FIG. 3, side panel 6 has seat flap 14secured thereto by a score line 15 intermediate the side panel. A curvedout line 16 extending from the top horizontal edge of blank 1 to theinner end of score line 15 permits longitudinal separation of flap 14from the side panel. The configuration of out line 16 forms a wingsection 18 in the side panel which gives the finally assembled chair theresemblance to a wing chair, as shown in FIG. 1.

Similarly, side panel 7 is also provided with a score line 15 and outline 16 whereby seat flap 19 and wing section 20 are formed.

Although cut lines 16 are shown shaped to provide wing type sides, otherconfigurations may be used for the cut lines to provide other well knownstyles of chairs.

A series of holes 22 are located along the outer vertical edges of sidepanels 6 and 7. As will be pointed out later the holes are utilized insecuring the blanks in the final chair assembly.

The second blank 2, shown in FIG. 4, comprises front section 24, seatcover 25 connected thereto by score line 26 and bottom flap 27 connectedthereto by score line 28. Front section 24 has side attaching flaps 30and 31 connected thereto by score lines 32. Flaps 30 and 31 have aseries of holes 33 along their length to cooperate with holes 22 in theside panels in the final chair assembly. Seat cover 25 has a fold flap34 connected thereto by a score line 35.

The support means comprise blanks 3, each having a central slot 38extending from an edge to about the center. The two slotted blanks areassembled as shown in FIG. 5 to present a cruciform or X cross-section.

To assemble the chair, blank 1 is bent along score lines 88 to bringside panels 6 and 7 at right angles with back section 5. Seat flaps 14and 19 are separated at cut lines 16 and bent along score lines 15-15 toform a part of the seat means. End flaps 110, 11 and 12 are benthorizontally along their score lines 13 and, when secured together, formthe base or bottom of the chair assembly. It is preferable that inassembly, the bottom flaps be folded counter-clockwise and be secured toeach other by interfolding and locking each other or by usingmold-resistant and weatherproof adhesive to form a strong multi-ply basestructure if a permanent assembly is desired.

Blank 2 is then bent along score lines 26 and 28 to bring seat cover 25and bottom flap 27 to their horizontal positions. Flaps 30 and 31 arebent along their score lines 3232. Flaps 30 and 31 are placed within theouter edges of side panels 6 and 7, and the holes 22 in the side panelsare aligned with holes 33 in the flaps. Bottom flaps 10, 11 and 12 arethen arranged horizontally and folded inwardly in the following order,reference being made to FIG. 6. Flap 11 is folded first, followed by thefolding of flap 10 over it and then folding flap 12 over flap 10. Thus,each flap is held by an edge of the adjacent flap; that is, flaps 11, 10and 12 are folded counter-clockwise.

To lock the assembly, flap 27 is folded and arranged so that one of itsedges overlies fiap 12 and its other edge is below flap 11.

Seat cover 25 overlies horizontally arranged seat flaps 14 and 19 toprovide a smooth seating surface. Seat cover 25 is held in itshorizontal position by folding its flap 34 between the back section andthe seat flaps, the flap of the seat cover serving to frictionally holdflap 34 in position.

The front section is finally fastened to the side panels by fasteningmeans inserted through some or all of the aligned holes 22 and 23. Whileany type of fastener may be used, screw-nut means 40 or othercommercially available fasteners, such as metal or plastic, arepreferable for the reason that they permit the assembly of the chair bya child as part of a program of nursery school education.

After the front section 24 is fastened to side panels 6 and 7, anenclosed space 41 is formed which is bounded by the back and frontsections, the side panels, the seat cover and the base. Access to thisspace is had by lifting seat cover 25 and flaps 14 and 19.

Space or chamber 41 performs two functions. Firstly, it may be used forstorage for toys or the like and secondly it houses the seat supportassembly comprising blank means 33. As shown in FIG. 2, the seat supportassembly is placed within space 41 with the intersecting axis of blanks3-3 vertically arranged so that the seat means comprises flaps 14 and 19and cover 25 and rests upon the cruciform section. This arrangementprovides a strong support for the seat and still provides for storagespace. The support may be removed from chamber 41 so that the entirespace 41 may be utilized for storage.

The lifting and seating forces and strains on the front section and seatcover 24 and 25 eventually wear them out before the rest of the chairstructure is worn out. The Worn out blank 2 may be easily replaced by anew one by merely removing fastening means 40 and changing the old unitfor a new one and reinserting the fastening means in holes 22 and 33.The use of screw-nut fastening means greatly facilitates the abovechange, as well as the original assembly. However, the two blanks may besecured by other fastening means, such as by stapling flaps 30 and 31 tothe side panels with paper fasteners through holes 22 and 33, or byusing strong adhesive means, if a permanent bond between the parts isdesired.

For convenience in handling and carrying the chair, a hand grip slot 42is punched in back section and a finger hole 43 may be cut in seat cover25. In lieu of hole 43, a tab stapled to seat cover 25 may be utilizedto lift the seat.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and differentembodiments of the invention could be made without departing from thescope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription (or shown in the accompanying drawing) shall be interpretedas illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A paperboard chair assembly consisting essentially of flat paperboardblanks comprising: a first blank having a back section with projectingside panels connected by score lines to each vertical edge of said backsection, each side panel having an intermediate, substantiallyhorizontal score line starting from the outer vertical edge andterminating at an intermediate point on the panel, and a out linestarting from an intermediate point on the outer horizontal edge thereofwhich terminates at the inner end of said horizontal score line, therebypermitting a portion of each side panel to form a seat flap when bent toa horizontal position along its score line, and the remaining portion ofthe side panel along the out line forming a wing section to give thefinal assembly a wing chair appearance; said side panels being foldablealong their vertical score lines substantially perpendicular to saidback panel; a second blank having a front section and a seat coverconnected thereto along its upper horizontal edge foldable along a scoreline; and means for securing the vertical edges of the front section ofthe second blank to the vertical edges of the side panels of the firstblank, with the seat cover arranged horizontally and overlying thehorizontally bent seat flaps, whereby the back section, the side panels,and the front section form a chamber uncovered by lifting the seal flapsand cover.

2. A paperboard chair in accordance with claim 1, wherein the secondblank has attaching fiaps connected to its front section along thevertical edges, which flaps are secured to the vertical edges of theside panels of the first blank.

3. A paperboard chair in accordance with claim 2, wherein the securingmeans comprise aligned holes in the attaching flaps and side panels andfastening means insertable through the aligned holes.

4. A paperboard chair in accordance with claim 1, wherein the backsection and side panels of the first blank and the front section of thesecond blank have bottom flaps which overlap to form a base structure.

5. A paperboard chair in accordance With claim 1, wherein there is aremovable support means for the seat flaps located in the chamber.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,100,979 11/1937 Rowe. 2,313,3623/1943 Rolls. 3,168,347 2/ 1965 Lyles 297442 3,250,570 5/1966 Smith eta1. 297-442 3,290,089 12/ 1966 Farrell 297-192 X 3,331,634 7/1967Harrison 297-442 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.297192, 442

